n_maher

Ethan, I could see how you would think that but I've spoken with Florian (the founder) at length about various topics over the past couple of months and found him to be quite plesant to deal with. I know he gets frustrated trying to explain himself in English because he does not speak it very well and maybe that's what you were detecting.

I understand but just remember that a chain is never stronger than its weakest link, and those UPW's are probably the weak link in your amp right now along with the buffers. Changing one is good but won't yield as much gain as if you changed both. Otherwise the Ear+ is a fantastic amp.

My 2?: 1. Get the DB's fixed and installed. They are far superiour to any of the SS buffers IMO and definitely better than the BUF634s. 2. Put some better quality caps at C2 and C7. These caps are directly in the audio path and UPW's are probably not the best sounding cap. Look into something like the Elna Silmic II's or Cerafines or Nichicon Muse KZ's. 3. Replace the output resistors R4 with something other than the Vishay's. It's cheap and my ears tell me that it makes a difference. Look at either Kiwame, PRP or Holco. The parts cost of these last two mods should be less than $20, installation is another story alltogether. But if you've already got someone working on the amp (fixing the DBs) maybe you could roll it all into one session? Also, I'm not in the same camp as en480c4 and aerius. I still think that a maxed M3 is a better amp than the Millett and it's no secret that I'm a pretty big Millett fan. But the Millett can be brought pretty close the the performance level of the M3 and with the Grados may in fact be more "fun". Best of luck, Nate

The measurement part will be hard, I've talked with Tyll about whether or not different cables for say, the HD650, measured any differently on their rig. He laughed at me. But I think there's a good number of us who would agree that we can hear a difference between say the stock cable and several aftermarket cables but as far as the frequency response measurements are concerned they are the same. So I guess I live in the camp that believes it is at least part perception and part reality as far as break-in goes and that quantifying those perceived differences is impossible.

Not that it's such a bad place to be, right? I was actually thinking of trying a pair of Ultrasone's since they seem to be the underdog in the headphone game and I really enjoyed speaking with Florian (the founder) at the Nat'l Meet. My wallett is currently unavailable for such an adventure.

Sweet man, you've gone through enough grief with your rig this summer that I'm sure the good news was welcome.

Now, if only you new someone who could take a few pictures of them...

The maple 325s are indeed tight.

Thaddy is well on his way...

Glad to hear it Ethan. I'm really looking forward to hearing your rig in a couple weeks in Boston.

Well. I've been using the SB3 in my home rig for the last weeks or so now. I have to say, I'm hooked. Even using semi-lossy files (-aps MP3s) running through my Monica DAC I'm pretty impressed. And there is no getting past the fact that having 400 cds at the touch of a button is fantastic. I guess it's time to start the lossless re-ripping and planning for the modding of the Squeezebox.

Oh my, I had forgotten Bob...

I feel for Regina Spektor. That's a great song but exactly what the crap am I supposed to get out of that animation? Quite frankly I feel retarded after watching it.

Did you try downloading it track by track? That's what I did and it worked just fine. I'm listening to it now, interesting stuff for sure and not at all what I expected. Not sure what exactly I expected though .

My advice, find an older Accord (or something like it) w/ AC and drive it into the ground. Avoid buying a new car as long and you can and bank as much $$$ as you can. Leasing will lull you into the idea that you can afford more car than you really can and will create expectations that your wallet can't match down the road. I know all too well the lure of buying a new car when you get your first job. Take the extra money you're saving and put it away and forget about it. If I could give anyone your age advice it would be to make it your goal to be the youngest of your friends to buy a house/apt/condo whatever. Paying rent is a serious drag even if it's affordable and having your own place that really is your own is great for reasons other than the tax benefits. My 2?, Nate

For you and me, it doesn't. For Grado it definitely does. I imagine it wasn't an easy decision to call it the iGrado but in my opinion it's a terrible name that reeks of a lack of imagination on Grado's part.

At least I could laugh at that name. I could care what they look like as I'm guessing that I am not their target audience but as a brand statement I think iGrado isucks iballs. How many add wizards did it take to come up with that one? Seriously, imagine the conversation... Add Guy: Let's call it "iGrado". It tells you nothing about the product other than whoever made it didn't give a shit about what name they gave it. Mr. Grado: Brilliant!

I love the people who are whining about how Grado didn't introduce these headphones on Head-Fi.... Could it be because of messages like this:

[EDIT]Upon further review, my previous statement was probably wrong so I'm just removing it. Here's to hoping your amp looks something like this when it's all done.

If it were me and I was going full pimp I'd use Welborne Lab's Remote SA. I've been managing to hold off on ordering one for nearly a year now as none of my projects seem worthy.

Based on name only I'd say that new headphones are getting worse. Evidence, the "iGrado"...

I posted my reply in the wrong thread but no worries, get to it when you can. I'm not going anywhere.

No rush on pics for me, I'm waiting to hear from f'ing FedEx about a damage claim on yet another of my sources (good grief no longer covers my fristration) so operation Squeezebox is somewhat up in the air. And whatcha gonna get for an amp?

I'd love to see a comparison of something like the DA100/HP100 compared to say Headroom's Desktop amp + DAC (home modules / home DAC) since they are pretty price competitve ($1400ish).

http://www.hifi500.com/product/da100.htm